1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed in general to memory devices and methods for operating same. In one aspect, the present invention relates to memory systems having error correction and methods of operating those systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In memory systems, data elements or locations in memory can become defective over time. Such defects can be detected and repaired during the manufacturing process (i.e., at time zero) and during normal operation by using error correction code (ECC) systems wherein a content addressable memory (CAM) is used to provide error correction for a memory where the CAM provides a redundant memory for use in replacing locations in memory that have been found to be defective. But with large memories, such as DRAM and SRAM memory, having increasing defects with age, the number of requested CAM entries can exceed the capacity of the CAM.